


You're The One I Was Meant to Find

by dunbarisms



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: M/M, Other, Phillip is bisexual he just doesn't know it yet, Rewrite the Stars is a love anthem, cute circus boys being cute, parts of it are for Barnum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 23:51:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13352118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dunbarisms/pseuds/dunbarisms
Summary: The magic of the circus is long gone at late hours of the night. It’s warm and welcoming and two men find each other in harmless playful matter. Until it isn’t. Rewrite the Stars but with Barlyle.





	You're The One I Was Meant to Find

**Author's Note:**

> idea by paint-it-over about our circus boys dancing and singing when the circus is empty. Somehow it ended up about their own version of Rewrite The Stars.

**You’re the One I was meant to find.**

It’s around one a.m when Phillip wakes up, unable to sleep. Maybe it was the heat of the spring breeze, or maybe it was the fact he slept until late and joined the company late in the evening, resulting in him staying up late to fix everything. By the time he went to sleep, it has only passed one hour, and it seems that too much activity before sleeping is not a good idea for the young man.

So he leaves the room, looking around at the empty grades and the circle at the center of it all. The lights are turned off and the building is only lightening by a couple of candles, as well by the light of the moonlight entering through the high windows.

It's melancholic rather than full of ecstasies. It’s calm against the wildness that its when the lights are on and everyone plays there part.

For Phillip, it amazed him how Barnum can sell this as a reality. For it was fake, and he is sure many knew that. But they weren’t there to see the reality, but the illusion. That made them happy for the longevity of the circus. And maybe that was enough.

Perhaps that was the reason why he couldn’t sleep. P.T. Barnum was a fascinating man and Phillip had found himself in a situation he never thought he would. He thinks of the man, and sometimes, it’s not just business and sales, and friends being friends going out for drinks.

Sometimes he dreams of him as he dreams of Anne. He dreams of them, getting closer and closer, the rush of holding hands knowing someone might see them. Its thrilling and scary and Phillip knows it might be wrong.

He takes the Ringmaster’s hat and staff, making his way to the center of the stage. Even in the darkness, he could imagine the people, staring, expecting, fascinated by them all. So he puts on the hat and pretends he is in one of the shows.

_What if we rewrite the stars?_

_Say you were made to be mine_

He sings in quiet tones, as he moves through the stage. It’s a song he had been writing about Anne. Or was it about Barnum? To be honest, maybe it was about them both. Phillip is confused.

_Nothing could keep us apart_

But lately, it feels as if the tours and money could. He isn’t sure he enjoys that new part of Barnum. Maybe he is just fearful of losing him to all of them. To Jenny.

It’s selfish of him because the man is not his to lose in the first place. A married man with a beautiful and compassionate wife and two lovely daughters. He shouldn’t be like this, thinking he is the only one suffering and missing him.

_You'd be the one I was meant to find_

A casual encounter by the street, Phillip somehow knew it was meant to happen. He could’ve just turned around and left the man, but he didn’t. He followed him to the bar and heard his proposition. Allowed him to set him free.

And it appears that in more than one way.

He stretches out his hands, turns and flips. He is finally pouring his soul into the music, that he can hear clearly in his head, the songs expressing everything he felt in that moment.

_It's up to you, and it's up to me_

_No one can say what we get to be_

Freaks. Or worse. What would they say if they find out he was attracted to a man? Or something deeper and stronger than just attraction. He feels it in his heart. Blue eyes look up at the sky.

_So why don't we rewrite the stars?_

He wished it was so simple. But the world was changing, and so they should do the same. Was there a chance Phineas felt the same?

_Maybe the world could be ours_

And an echo of a voice seems to wake him up from his thoughts, a hand holding his own without any doubt or care. And as he looks up, he sees Barnum. He is not smiling, but he is not serious either.

_Tonight_

Barnum finishes the song and Phillip removes the hat from his hand, the staff has long forgotten by the floor, his hand still holding the other.

His mouth opens in question after a long period of silence and he sees Barnum finally smiling once more and Phillip feels like dying. “You have to be more careful leaving your songs all over the place.”  He smiles back, clearly about his clumsiness.

It’s strange. Neither is moving back from where they stand, and both look down at their hands. Phillip reaches out and places the top hat above Barnum’s head, making sure it fits properly. “Sorry about taking it.” He speaks up and the other man just shrugs.

“It fits you.” Is the only response he gets before he feels a tug in his hand and he is being tugged by the other. Phillip is quick on his feet and doesn’t fall as he feels his whole body turn and twirl.

And they are dancing, the music playing out in his head as he is turn around and faced with the man with the eyes that could convince anyone. There is no doubt or fear and as such, Phillip feels neither as well.

All I want is to fly with you

All I want is to fall with you

He doesn’t realize he is smiling until he hears the other one laugh, and he enjoys himself as well, taking comfort in the night above them and the privacy. Phillip knows Phineas is also imagining the Circus, and as such, he feels they are synchronized, like they were the first night they met.

_So just give me all of you_

_It feels impossible_

_It's not impossible_

_Is it impossible?_

_Say that it's possible_

But the music slowly dies down and so their movements, his other hand is on Barnum’s shoulder and he feels the warm touch of the elder’s hand by his waist. It sends a rush on his body he is sure they **_both_** can feel.

_How do we rewrite the stars?_

_Say you were made to be mine?_

_Nothing can keep us apart_

**_Cause you are the one I was meant to find_ **

He hears the other sings the words he had spoken early. The part of the song that is meant to him. The song ’s a blend of both people in his life he feels most connected at the moment. Those verses? Are for Barnum. Only him. And it seems the other knows. The hand on his waist is removed and the hat returns again to his head thanks to Barnum’s help.

It’s intense and scary, the way the other hold’s his gaze. But it’s thrilling and he doesn’t move, afraid to break the illusion. He only seems to open his mouth for a split second, allowing the other a fraction a clue that he can do whatever he wants.

And he does. Their joined hands still held together at the moment he feels soft lips on his own, the hint of beard scratching his cheeks and his heart beats rapidly against his chest, his eyes close, enjoying the moment.

For that frozen moment, he does feel as if he can rewrite the stars.


End file.
